The city has four Catholic churches more commonly known by their cardinal reference points on the compass rather than religious names. Beitang, or North Church, also called the Xishiku Cathedral and Church of the Sainted Savoir is located at 33 Xishiku Dajie in Xicheng district, west of Beihai Park, north of Xi'anmen Dajie. It is the third of three houses of worship established by the Jesuit missionary order in the 17th century.

This is one of the last Christmas seasons when you can attend mass at the cathedral in a partially pre-modern urban environment. The process of neighbourhood destruction outside its walled compound has already begun. If you speak Chinese, call 6524-0634 to find out times for Christmas events.

Xishiku is the second location for the St. Savoir church. Between 1693 and 1885, it was situated close to the western wall of Zhonghai in an area today bounded by Guangming Hutong on the east, west of Fuyou Jie, and inside the southeast corner of Xi'anmen Dajie.

This is a good place to poke around the hutong trying to find where the site once stood.

This prime plot of land was given to the Jesuits in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) by a grateful emperor. In 1693 Kangxi (r.1661-1722) was cured of malaria by French Jesuit missionaries Gerbillon (1654-1707) and Bouvet (1656-1730) who administered the recently discovered drug of quinine, sent by Jesuits stationed in the Philippines.

The first St. Savior church was completed in 1703 and had a stone stela designating it "Imperially Established Hall of the Heavenly Lord."

The church was converted into a plague hospital in 1724, after emperor Yongzheng (r. 1723-1735) proscribed Catholicism. The property was confiscated by emperor Daoguang (r. 1821-1850) and converted to a prince's palace. The site was restored to Catholics in 1860 and a new church built in 1867.

In 1885 the Dowager Empress Cixi (1835-1908) wanted the church moved away from Zhonghai believing it's spires disturbed the site's fengshui and more importantly, her privacy. Beitang moved to its present location at Xishiku in 1886 and a new church was built in 1888.

Non-Catholic religious activity in China started in 1807, led by Robert Morrison's missionary work in the southern part of the country. The Protestant presence in Beijing began in 1861, a year after the provisions of the Peking Convention (an unequal treaty the Qing were forced to sign allowing foreigners to live in the capital) went into effect.

Within a decade there were six major Protestant organizations from Great Britain and the United States in the capital. The last of these groups, the Women's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, established the Asbury Church (also known as the Chongwenmen Church), the largest Protestant house of worship in the Qing empire.

The first Asbury Methodist Church was built in 1870, enlarged in 1882 to accommodate 1,500 worshipers and rebuilt in 1903-04 after the Boxer Uprising. It follows an architectural blueprint called the Akron Plan, a popular design for American churches in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Church services stopped in 1958 after Protestant activity in Beijing was consolidated. The site became a public middle school. The Asbury Church, sometimes called "Church of the Presidents" because George Bush (February 1989) and Bill Clinton (June 1998) prayed there, reopened twenty years ago for Christmas in 1982.

The church is located at D2 Hougou Hutong, on the north side behind Beijing Zhan Xijie.

List of churches in Beijing

Catholic

Dongtang (East Church) Church of St. Joseph

No. 74 Wangfujing Dongcheng District

Tel. 6524-0634

Xitang (West Church) Church of Our Lady of Mt.Carmel

No. 130 Xizhimennei Dajie Xicheng District

Tel. 6615-6619

Nantang (South Church) Church of St. Mary

No. 141 Qianmenxi Dajie Xicheng District

Tel. 6602-5221

St. Michael's Church

No. 11 Dongjiaominxiang Dongcheng District

Tel. 6513-5170

Nangangzi Church

No. 6 Yongshengxiang Xingfu Dajie Chongwen District Tel. 6714-3341

Protestant

Congregation of the Good Shepherd

3/F Capital Club Athletic Center, Multi-function Room

No. 6 Xinyuan Nanjie Chaoyang District

Tel. 6438-6536

Beijing International Christian Fellowship

Sino-Japanese Youth Exchange Center

No. 40 Liangmaqiao Lu Chaoyang District

Tel. 6437-6887

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

No. 6 Xinyuan Nanlu Chaoyang District

Tel. 6532-4251

Haidian Protestant Church

No. 10 Xieshuihu Hutong Haidian District

Tel. 6257-2902

Gangwashi Protestant Church

No. 57 Xisi Nandajie Xicheng District

Tel. 6617-6181

Zhushikou Protestant Church

No. 129 Qianmen Nandajie Xuanwu District

Tel. 6301-6678

Kuanjie Protestant Church

No. 50 Di'anmen Dongdajie Dongcheng District

Tel. 6403-2592

Women's Bible Study Group

Lido Holiday Inn Chaoyang District

Tel. 6437-6908

(Beijing Weekend December 23, 2002)